Sway adaptor for electrical fixture



Sept. 6, 1960 J W. MYERS SWAY ADAPTOR FOR ELECTRICAL FIXTURE Filed March 6, 1956 /lIII/llllll.

INVENTOR drm/@VEZ United States Patent O SWAY ADAPTQR FDR ELECTRICAL FIXTURE John W. Myers, 120 Pearl, Balboa Island, Calif. Filed Mar. 6, 1956, Ser. No. 569,898

1 Claim. y(Cl. 285-273) This invention relates to electrical fixtures and particularly to an improved sway adaptor or pivotal connector for hingedly coupling two elements of an electrical lixture, and the like.

In many types of electrical fixtures, as for example, electrical light fixtures, it is desirable or essential that one element of the fixture be supported for relatively free tilting movement on another element of the fixture. Such free tilting movement may be, for example, for the purpose of allowing the hingedly supported element to hang in a natural position, under the influence of gravity, irrespective of the positioning of the other element or to lend flexibility to the fixture and thereby substantially reduce the possibility of damage to the fixture in the event of earth shocksl or other concussions. It is well known that relatively rigid electrical fixtures, especially of the pendant type, are especially prone to damage during earth shocks and other concus-sions and present a serious safety hazard on such occasions.

One, though not the exclusive, application of the present sway adaptor is concerned with the coupling of a lamp housing to the lower end of a pendant type lighting fixture so as to accommodate free tilting or pivotal movement of the housing relative to the pendant. The present, illustrative application of the invention is concerned more particularly `with the pivotal supporting of a uorescent lamp housing on the lower ends of the pendants of a pair of pendant type xtures, the upper ends of which pendants are swivelly supported in bases attached to the ceiling of Ia building to accommodate free swivel movement of the pendants relative to the respective bases. I'he swivel type pendant fixtures, for example, may be, and are illustrated as comprising, pendant type fixtures of the type disclosed in copending application Serial No. 558,066, led January 9, 1956, and entitled, Swivel Fixture, now abandoned.

The primary object of the invention is the provision of an improved pivotal connector of the class described.

Another object of the invention is the provision of an improved pivotal connector of the class described which alto-rds twofold protection against accidental separation of the connector parts.

Another object of the invention` is the provision of a pivotal connector of the class described which is adapted for rapid and easy attachment to a lighting fixture.

Another object of the invention is the provision of a pivotal connector of the class described which accommodates substantial lateral swinging movement of the connector parts.

A further object of the invention is the provision of a pivotal connector of the class described which is formed with a passage therethrough for receiving electrical Wires and which is so designed and constructed that no appreciable rubbing of the connector against or abrupt flexing of the electrical wires occurs during pivoting of the connector parts to their extreme positions.

A still further object of the invention is `the provision of a pivotal connector of the class described which is 2,951,716 Patented Sept. 6, 1960 relatively simple in construction, pleasing in appearance, and inexpensive to manufacture.

A better understanding of the invention may be had from the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the annexed drawings, wherein:

Fig. 1 is a view, in elevation, illustrating one form of electrical lighting fixture embodying the present pivotal connector;

Fig. 2 lis an enlarged section taken longitudinally through one of the present pivotal connectors in the lixture of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a section taken along the line 3--3 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is an exploded view illustrating the parts of the present pivotal connector;

Fig. 5 is a side elevation of the present pivotal connector with the parts thereof shown in one extreme angulated position and partially broken away to illustrate the relatively slight flexing of electrical wires which extend through the connector; and

Fig. 6 is a section taken along line 6-6 of Fig. 2.

Oneelectrical installation in which the present pivotal connector nds useful application is illustrated in Fig. l wherein 10 denotes a pair of pendant type light lixtures for supporting the canopy or housing 12 of a conventional fluorescent light a distance below the ceiling 14 of a building. Each of the light fixtures 10, which are illustrated as being of the type disclosed in my aforesaid copending application, comprises an elongated pendant 16 and 1a base 18 which is firmly fixed to ceiling 14. The upper end of each pendant 16 is swivelly supported in its respective base 18, in the manner described in my aforesaid application, so that each pendant is adapted for swinging through an arc of approximately 45 in any direction throughout a complete 360.

It will be seen from the description thus far that canopy 12 and pendants 16 are supported -for relatively free swinging movement in a plane normal to the paper. If, however, the canopy 12 is rigidly attached to the lower ends of the pendants, pivoting of the latter relative to the canopy would be precluded and the light installation of Fig. 1 would be rigid insofar as swinging of t-he canopy and pendants in the plane of the paper isconcerned. Such a semirigid installation would be prone to damage from earth shocks and building vibrations resulting from other causes, and, accordingly would present a serious safety hazard.

In lieu of such rigid attachment, the swivel fitting or sway adaptor 20 of this invention may be employed to pivotally secure the canopy 12 to the lower ends of the pendants 16 so as to accommodate swinging of the latter relative to the canopy about axes` normal to the plane of the paper and, therefore, swinging of the canopy and pendants in said plane. The installation is, thereby, rendered substantially more iiexible and less prone to damage from the aforementioned causes.. Also such pivotal attachments between the pendants and canopy accommodates more natural hanging of these parts under the action of gravity in the event of any slight unevenness in the ceiling 14.

It will be 4appreciated that the electrical lighting installation of Fig. l is only one illustrative application of the present connector and that the latter may be considered to be in the nature of an attachment which may be employed to advantage in numerous other types of electrical lighting fixtures or installations, as, for instance, to pivotally couple a pair of electrical conduits.

The pivotal connector 20, comprising the present invention will now be described in detail with reference to Figs. 2-6. Connector 20 comprises a pair of hinged interitting outer and inner parts 22 and 24. Part 22, which forms a swivel housing, comprises a hollow cylindrical coupling sleeve 26 which is internally threaded at 28 for threaded engagement on the threaded lower end 30 of the pendant 16. Formed on the lower end, as viewed in the drawings, of sleeve 26 is a hollow, generally disk-like body portion ror shell 32 having its axis on the axis of sleevel 26-and including a cylindrical edge wall 34 and substantially planar, parallel side walls 36. Portions of the walls 34 and 36 of shell 32 are cut away along a plane normal to the axis of sleeve 26 and spaced a distance below, as seen in Fig. 2, the axis of shell 32 Vso that the latter is formed with a lower rectangular opening 38 whose longest dimension is somewhat less than the internal diameter of the shell, as shown. Side walls 36 of the shell are formed with alined journal openings 40. i

Connector part 22, just described, is formed as a pair of half shells 22a and 22b, as shown most clearly in Fig. 4./ The half sleeve portions 26a and 26h of these half shells are formed with the internal threads 28. To assure accurate registry of these threads on the two half sleeve portions, as well as accurate alinement of the half shell portions 22a and 22b in general, when the latter are assembled to formthe part 22, the inner edges or opposing faces of the cylindrical walls of said half shell portions are formed to provide slideably interlitting, coaxial cylindric shoulders 42 and 44, as shown in Figs. 4 and, 6.

In the assembled condition of the half shells 22a and 22h, shown in Figs. 2 and 3, a locking sleeve 46 is slid down over half sleeve portions 26a and 26h, forming sleeve 26, to retain the half shells against separation. It will be observed that the shoulders 42 and 44 have diametrically opposed portions so that the half shell portions are accurately retained in coaxial relationship. The two half shells may, however, be relatively rotated to accurately align the half sleeve portions 26a and 26b. This greatly facilitates assembly of the half shell portions and locking sleeve.

Received within shell 32 is a hollow, disk-like body or swivel portion 48 on the aforesaid part 24 which forms a swivel member of the present connector. This body has generally a cylindrical edge wall S and planar side walls 52. The upper end of body 28, as viewed in the drawings, it cut away along a plane spaced above the axis of the body to form an upper rectangular opening 54 therein. The outer diameter of body 48 is just slightly less than the internal diameter of shell 32 so that said body will be precluded from movement through the lower opening 38 in shell 32. Also, the thickness of body 48 is slightly less than the internal spacing of walls 36 of shell 32 so that the body will be freely movable in said shell. Y

Side walls 52 of body 48 are formed on their outer surfaces with alined, axial journal projections or pins 56 which are rotatably received in the journal openings 40 in the side walls 36 of shell 32 so that parts 22 and 24 of the present connector will be pivotally joined.

Body 48 is formed with a lower hollow cylindrical coupling sleeve portion 58 which is externally threaded. In the installation of Fig. l, sleeve 58 extends through an opening 60 in the top panel of canopy 12 and is retained in position in said opening by a pair of nuts 62 threaded on the sleeve at opposite sides of said panel.

The axial openings through sleeve portions 26 and 58 of connector parts 22 and 24- open into the interiors of shell 32 and body 48, respectively, to accommodate passage through the connector of electrical wires 64 extending'from a junction box, not shown, in ceiling 14 to the fluorescent lamps, not shown, supported by canopy 12. The axes of these axial sleeve openings intersect substantially at a point on the pivotal axis of the connector.

In assembly of the present connector in the insta-llation of Fig. l, wires 64 may be threaded through sleeve 46 and connector part 24, as shown in Fig. 4, and the latter may be secured to canopy 12 in the manner described and oriented relative to the canopy length as shown in Fig. 1. The two half shells 22a and 22h are then assembled over body 48 of part 24 with half sleeve portions 26a and 26b of part 22 extending about the threaded lower end of pendant 16. Sleeve 46 is then slid down over these abutting half sleeve portions to retain the parts in assembled condition. A lock nut 66 on the pendant serves the dual function of retaining the sleeve 46 in position on the connector and locking the latter against turning on the pendant 16.

Because 'of the aforedescribed reduced size of lower opening 38 in shell 32, as compared to the outer diameter of body 48 onconnector part 24, it will be seen that even though shearing of the journal pins 56 should occur for some reason, axial separation of connector part 24 from connector part 22 is prevented. Thus, in effect, twofold protection, namely pins 56 and the reduced size of opening 38, is afforded against separation of the connector parts so that the safety factor of the present swivel connector is substantially enhanced.

Moreover, because of the relatively large size of opening 54 in body 48 of connector part 24 and the relatively large'internal dimensions of the interior of said body, relative to the diameters of the openings through the sleeve portions 26 and 58 and to the diameters of the wires 64, substantially no rubbing of the parts against wires 64 will occur during pivoting of the connector parts. Equally important, is the fact that because of these clearances, only slight flexing of the wires 64 occurs during such pivoting of the parts, as may be seen from Fig. 5. Accordingly the possibility of the insulation of the wires becoming frayed or worn, and therefore shorting of the wires, is substantially eliminated.

The half shell construction of connector part 22 enables this part, including threads 28, to be economically produced by die casting techniques as may connector part 24.

The present swivel fitting 20 is uniquely suited to use on a fixture of the type shown in Fig. l. Thus, very seldom, if ever, are fluorescent lamps, such as 12, balanced in a lateral direction. Since the swivel fittings 20 are hinged about parallel axes normal to the length of the lamp, the latter, even if so unbalanced, is prevented from lateral tilting on the pendants as would occur if ball and socket connectors were used, for example. The fixture, however, still possesses complete 360 freedom of movement which is essential, as noted earlier.

While an illustrative embodiment and application of the present connector have been disclosed, it will be appreciated that numerous modifications in design, arrangement of parts, and application are possible within the scope of the following claim.

I claim:

A pivotal fitting for electric fixtures and the like, comprising: an outer housing and an inner pivotal member, said housing including a hollow generally semi-cylindically shaped body portion having parallel, generally semiciircularly shaped side walls and a cylindrically curved edge wall extending between the side walls, a first coupling sleeve integrally joined at one end to and extending radially from said edge wall, the passage in said sleeve opening to the interior of the body portion, said pivotal member including a hollow generally semi-cylindrically shaped part rotatably received in said body portion, said part having parallel, generally semi-circularly shaped side walls parallel to the lirst-mentioned side walls and a cylindrically curved edge wall extending between the side walls of the part, said part having an edge opening fac- Ving said sleeve passage, coaxial, axially disengage-able journal bearing means on the side walls of said body portion and the side walls of said part mounting the latter in said body portion for pivoting on an axis perpendicular to and passing through the centers of said side walls, said pivotal member further including a second radial coupling sleeve integrally joined at one end to the edge wall 5 6 of said part opposite said edge opening, said second sleeve References Cited in the file of this patent and a portion of said part extending to the exterior of said body portion through an edge opening in said body UNITED STATES PATENTS portion opposite the sleeve on the latter portion, the 285,277 Klein Sept. 18, 1883 passage in said second sleeve opening to the interior 0f 5 642,477 McDowell Jan. 30, 1900 said part whereby wires may be passed through the iit- 766,890 Newberg Aug. 9, 1904 ting, said housing being split along Ia plane parallel t0 777,306 Bawlinson Dec. 13, 1904 said side walls and passing through said sleeve axis t0 1,202,698 Ford Oct. 24, 1916 form la pair of half shell sections, a locking sleeve slid- 2,289,583 Malone July 14, 1942 ably Ireceived on said lirst coupling sleeve yfor holding said 10 2,513,144 Cederborg June 27, 1950 sections together with opposing edge surfaces thereof in 2,709,097 Leary May 24, 1955 contact, and the opposing edge surfaces on the cylin- 2,762,598 Runge Sept. 11, 1956 drically curved edge wall of said body portion having slidably intertting, cylindric shoulders concentric with said pivot axis to permit said half shell sections to be 15 FOREIGN PATENTS relatively rotated into alignment while the journal bearing means on the sections are retained in axial alignment. 76,613 Denmark Oct. 19, 1953 

